The Moonlit Water
by Georgie17xx
Summary: A new friend of Yuffie's has recently arrived to live in Edge. Starla meets the group, and gets along with everyone perfectly. Cloud seems to have much interest in this girl, but can she see it? Will this new girl be the right one for Cloud? CloudxOC
1. 1: The Grumpiest Person I've Ever Met?

**This is my first ever upload ^_^ I hope people like it. I rarely write Stories so this is kinda the first attempt at writing a serious Fanfic.**

**Must Clarify!! I DO NOT OWN FINAL FANTASY VII OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS. JUST MY CHARACTERS.**

**Summary: A new friend of Yuffie's, Starla (OC) has recently moved to Edge from Gongaga. She meets all of the gang, gets along with everyone. But, what's happened to Cloud all of a sudden? He begins to smile a lot more when Starla is around. Has he found "The One"?**

**CloudxOC**

**Chapter One - The Grumpiest Person I've Ever Met… **

I lay on the wooden floor, staring at the nothingness underneath the sofa as I heard the slaughtering. A tear slipped down my face as I saw the blood creeping towards me, coming through from underneath the sofa. It wasn't long before it came towards me, my small 7 year old body drenched in blood. I couldn't make any noise, I didn't want to bring attention to myself from the strange man who had broken into my home.

"Right…" The stranger murmured, dragging the body past me and into his truck.

"Mommy…" I whispered to myself, breaking out into more tears, laying there in her blood.

***

I opened my eyes slowly, looking around the room before sitting up in my bed, noticing I had been sweating quite a bit.

"Another dream…" I murmured, shaking my head slightly and getting out of bed. I thought these recurring nightmares had gone away 10 years ago. Why have they come back during these past two weeks? Getting over what happened to me so long ago was hard, re-living it is worse. I sighed to myself, getting out of bed and getting ready. Going into the bathroom and taking a shower, brushing my teeth. I got dressed into some black shorts, my knee-high white, flat boots, laces running up them, and my black turtle neck, short sleeved sweater.

I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard the family beeping noise of my phone ringing. Placing a hand on my heart, I picked up the phone, and checked who was calling. The screen displayed "Yuffie Kisaragi calling".

"Hey, Yuffie." I answered, smiling at myself - Yuffie always managed to make me laugh.

"Hey! Starla! Meet me at the end of the road. We need to go shopping!" The younger ninja girl exclaimed, sounding very excited.

"Alright, I'll be there in five." I replied, flipping down my phone and putting it in my bag. I pushed my long blonde hair in a quick pony tail, leaving my fringe to cascade down my face. Rushing out the door, I grabbed my keys, locking the door. I paced down the street, noticing the clearer figure of Yuffie as I got closer. The dark haired girl raised her arm and waved frantically, jumping up and down with a big grin on her face. I noticed there was another girl with her. She had long black hair.

"Hey Star!" Yuffie shouted, pulling me into a tight hug as I reached the two. "This is Tifa!" She exclaimed, pointing at Tifa as she pulled away from the hug.

"Oh, hey, Tifa. I'm Starla…" I murmured, widening my eyes slightly as I noticed her large breasts. "Oh…" I whispered out loud, feeling slightly jealous yet sympathetic for the girl.

Yuffie let out a small giggle. "I know right…Tifa, don't you ever get back pains..? "She asked curiously, tilting her head slightly. I felt a light blush crawl onto my cheeks, feeling embarrassed that I was actually wondering the same thing too.

Tifa rubbed the back of her neck nervously, letting out a small, breathy laugh. "Um…w-well…"

"So, anyway." I interrupted to ward off any more embarrassment for Tifa. "Where are we going again?" I tilted my head, making sure my claws were safely in place beside me, just in case some fiends came along to ruin my day. "Did you say there was a new weapon shop opening today?"

"Yeah, it might be a little packed, but apparently it has everything from swords to…well, it has everything, lets just say that." Yuffie grinned excitedly, rubbing her hands together.

"Okay, cool, well, shall we go the-"

"I think they also sell Materia…" Yuffie interrupted, an evil grin enshrouding her face. I swear she started salivating at one point…

"Yuffie…Hello?" Tifa murmured, waving a hand in front of Yuffie's face. "Anyone in there..?" She asked again. "Earth to Yuffie!" She shouted, slapping Yuffie around the face lightly to wake her up.

"Wha-? Oh…sorry…I wasn't…daydreaming about jumping into a pool of Materia…or anything…" Yuffie murmured, shaking her head and then beginning to walk off, leading us to the shop. It was a little while before we reached it, Edge was a big place. I learned that when I moved from Gongaga to here.

"She's strange…" I murmured to myself as I walked by Tifa. She turned her head and smiled.

"Yeah…she is a little…" She replied, thinking the comment was directed at her, when really, I wasn't paying any attention to anything around me.

"Okay! Here we are! The new Weapon Shop!!! Wheee!" Yuffie bellowed, cart wheeling into the shop, barging past everyone in the doorway. "Weapons! Armour! And the most important of all…MATERIA!" The young ninja shouted as she ran around the shop like a small child in a toy shop. I shook my head, smirking to myself.

"Come on, Tifa. Lets go get control of that mad girl…" I chuckled, walking into the shop, seeing a large, dark skinned man behind the counter.

"YUFFIE! WATCH WHAT YA DOIN' KAY?!" The man behind the counter bellowed, waving his arms around in the air getting paranoid that she was going to break something.

"That's Barret. He lives with me, but he opened this shop. He has a special area for Gun-Arms…" Tifa leaned in to whisper to me. I just nodded in understanding. "Pretty much everyone I hang around with is in here. There's Vincent…" She murmured, pointing the a dark figure with a long red cape and a metal hand. "Oh, there's Red XIII and Cait Sith…" She pointed again. My eyes widened as I saw them. Red XIII was, well, red, and Cait Sith looked like a cat. I'm not sure what they were, but they seemed cool. "Oh!" She shouted walking over to a blonde, spiky haired man. "This is Cloud…" She murmured as he turned around to see who it was.

"Tifa…stop harassing me…" He mumbled, smirking ever so slightly.

"Cloud! Be nice…" Tifa raised her voice slightly, slapping his arm gently. "This is Starla…" She smiled happily after letting out a sigh.

"Heya, nice to meet you." Cloud spoke softly, putting out his hand to shake.

"H-hey…" I murmured, stuttering my words. I took his hand and shook it - His grip was strong. "N-nice to meet you…" I whispered, smiling slightly, looking pathetic. Why I was acting like this, I didn't quite know. "I like your hair…" I pointed at his hair a little, nodding my head and then scrunching up my eyes.

"Th-…thanks…" He grinned. "I like getting compliments about my hair.

"Hmm…" Tifa murmured, taking Cloud's arm and dragging him out of the shop. I watched as she took his arm, following his every move. Oh dear…

~~Tifa~~

"You're not usually happy!" I shouted, pointing at Cloud with a stern look on my face. "The last time I saw you smile was…hell, I can't even remember the last time you smiled!" I shouted, getting angry at him. I don't even know why I did…

"W-well…I dunno…maybe I'm just having a good day…" He replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Hm…" I grunted, walking back into the shop and smiling at Starla as I went to talk to Barret.

~~Starla~~

I wondered what it was about, but I decided not to ask Tifa just in case she flew off at me too. Looking at the new types of claws and materia, I spotted Cloud in the corner of my eye walking towards me. I took in a deep sigh, tapping my foot slightly. "Just act natural…" I whispered to myself, hopefully quiet enough that nobody would hear.

"Uh…hey…" Cloud murmured as he reached me, holding up his hand and waving slightly. "You need any help? Barret said I could help…" He rubbed the back of his neck, looking nervous.

"Oh, um, I think I'm alright, thanks for offering though." I just smiled along, pretending I was fine. "What was all that about? With Tifa?" I asked curiously. "Sorry if I seem like I'm being nosey…"

"Oh, uh…I have no idea…she complained cause I smiled…I know it's a rare thing…but come on…you can't accuse me of silly things just because I smile…" He rambled, lifting his arms up to help him prove his point. "So…you fight with claws, huh?"

My face lit up slightly as he showed interest. "Yeah…See…" I replied, tapping the claws packed beside each leg. My eye darted to the door as I saw Yuffie standing outside waving her arm at me, signalling that I should go. "Oh…I'm being called…" I murmured, pointing towards the excitable ninja girl. "I better run…I'll catch you round…Seeya." I walked towards Yuffie.

"Okay…S-Seeya…" Cloud spoke back just as I was walking away.

~~Cloud~~

I watched the new girl walk out the door, and then stormed out of the room, walking over to Tifa with a stern look on my face.

"Tifa! You made her think I was a moody ass!" I shouted, stopping before I reached Tifa.

She turned around, smiling slightly. "W-well…you are…" She replied.

"Not funny…"

"Why should you care anyway? It's only another person in the little gang, it shouldn't matter to you." She turned back around, looking in store room for more materia.

I sighed, trying my best to sound annoyed. "Because, I like making good impressions…" She chuckled.

"Since when, may I ask?" My best friend placed her hands on her hips, looking very unconvinced.

"Well…since…since I care about what people think of me!"

"Exactly. Never" She muttered sounding smart. "Do you want people to know the Cloud that wants to impress people, or do they want to know the real you?" She walked past me and back into the main part of the shop.

~~Starla~~

I wandered down the road with Yuffie, trying to block out her constant talking and bouncing.

"So, did you have fun? I bought a pile load of new Materia!" The young, dark haired girl from Wutai yelped, walking with a bounce.

"Why does that not surprise me?" I replied, smiling to myself. Even though Yuffie got annoying sometimes, she was one of my best friends. "It was alright, met some new people. They all seem really nice."

Yuffie grinned cheerily. "Oh, cool. Barret's pretty cool! I think he's done well to open a shop up on his own, with a child to look after too. Did you meet Cid?"

"No…I didn't meet Cid…What's he like?"

"He's cool I guess. Bit of a gramps, but he has the Airship so I might as well be nice, huh. What do you think of Cloud? Grumpy as anything, right?" She continued, seeming happier than a Chocobo with a lifetime supply of Greens.

"Would you…say he was grumpy? He seemed alright with me. Actually, he seemed kinda…happy." I replied, my face in a slight confused state.

"You think so? He's the moodiest person I've ever met! EVER!" She yelled, raising her arms up, almost dropping her materia. "I don't think the word 'Happy' is in Cloud's dictionary." Yuffie continued to speak, but I wasn't really listening. I was too busy wondering why Yuffie thinks Cloud is grumpy.

"Well, is he grumpy with everyone else?" I asked.

"Yep. Everyone. I can get everyone on the phone, all at once, and ask them" She took out her phone and started fiddling with it, several calls being transmitted at once. "Hey, guys. It's Yuffie. This is Tifa, Cid, Vinny and Barret right?" She asked, pretty much shouting down the phone.

There was a series of "Yeah" shouting down the phone.

"Good! Right, I wanna ask you all a question, and answer one at a time! Do you think Cloud is grumpy"

"As if you're doing this…I don't need you to prove a point Yuffie, I don't care…" I murmured, raising my eyebrows and rolling my eyes.

"Yep. Grumpiest person I've ever met." Replied Tifa down the phone.

"Hell yeah! That kid needs to smile a little more often…Actually, he needs to smile. Never seen those lips curving anything but downwards!" I thought that must be Cid.

"Yeah…" There was the long beep of hang up from this person.

"That skinny, blonde grump gets on my nerves! Makes me depressed just being around him!" Was Barret's reply.

"Thanks…See." Yuffie smiled, feeling accomplished. "So, he's a grumpy ass."

"O-kay…thanks for…clarifying that with me…" I murmured, continuing to walk. "Anyway…I think I'm gonna go home. I'll be back at 7th Heaven in about an hour. "Seeya later Yuffie." I waved walking off. It was an off moment, I wondered for a little while if Cloud really is grumpy. But it was silly, I didn't let it get to me.


	2. 2: Hitting The Floor

Chapter 2 - Hitting the floor. 

After a little while of being home, I was ready to make my way to 7th Heaven. I walked down the wooden stairs in my house, grabbing my coat and stepping out of the door, locking it once more. Walking down the street, my head began to ache, pulsing pain running from my brain and down my spine. I held my head in my hands, closing my eyes tightly as I stopped for a moment, leaning against the wall.

"Ow…" I whispered to myself as the pain started to drift away. I shook my head gently, opening my eyes again and starting to walk. Suddenly, from a slight distance, I heard a scream that sounded like a small child. My head twitched over to where the scream came from, and I ran, looking in all the nooks to find where it came from. In the distance of a dark alley, I saw a young girl with a dark fiend crawling up to her. I frowned, dashing over to the troubled girl, securing my claws to my hands, at the ready to fight. As I came closer, the fiend noticed me, and charged towards me. I turned the other way to get out of the alley, giving myself more room to fight.

I focused my eyes on the fiend, lifting my leg up and kicking it's face as it reached me, caused it to fall backwards. I ran back towards the fiend, doing various flips and turns, punches and kicks. It wasn't long before this fiend turned into dust, vanishing before my very eyes. Smirking, I ran over to the young girl, checking is she was okay. "Are you alright?"

The young girl nodded slightly, looking frightened.

"HEY!" Came a deep and loud voice from behind me. "You save my little girl?" The deep voice asked.

I turned to see who it was, and then realised it was Barret from the shop earlier. "Oh, Barret. I'm Starla. I was in your new shop with Tifa and Yuffie earlier…" I smiled sweetly, putting out my hand, hoping he wouldn't crush it - he was much larger than I.

"Huh? And you saved my little Marlene?" He repeated, grabbing my hand tightly and shaking it. "Thank you…nice to meet ya. Why wasn't I there to save my girl..?" The large man's head sunk, looking disappointed.

I tilted my head. "Don't blame yourself, you've been busy with the shop and everything. Don't worry about it, she's safe now." I replied, placing a comforting hand on his arm. "I was on my way to 7th heaven, so, if you want me to take Marlene with me, then it's alright."

"Would you do that for me..? Thanks." He walked over to Marlene, kneeling down and hugging her. "Are you gonna be alright with the nice lady to take you home, huh?" He asked his daughter, looking in her eyes. The girl just nodded, walking over to me and smiling.

"Okay, I'll get her home and tell Tifa you were too busy." I smiled at Barret, trying my best to look friendly.

"Thank you." The large, gun-armed man replied, waving at Marlene and walking off slowly.

"Okay, let's go." I spoke to Marlene, placing my hand on her back and starting to walk. The young girl was silent, seeming fine, no longer frightened. "So, how old are you then?" I asked quietly, trying to make conversation. There was no answer. I just shrugged my shoulders and kept quiet until we reached 7th Heaven. Marlene saw the building in the distance, and ran off towards it, pushing the door open and running up to the bar where Tifa stood.

"Tifa! Tifa!" She shouted, pulling herself up from the bar and jumping so Tifa could see her. "The lady saved me from a monster!" The little girl muttered, turning and pointing to me as I entered the bar.

"Really?" Tifa asked, smiling. She walked out of the bar and over to me, opening her arms and hugging me slightly. "Thank you Starla." She whispered, pulling away and taking Marlene's hand, walking with her to behind the bar again.

"You're welcome…Barret had to go back to the shop so he asked me to bring her here." Smiling, I entered 7th Heaven properly, pulling a stool up at the bar and sitting down comfortably. "Where's Yuffie?" I asked Tifa, leaning my head on my hand, tapping the bar with my other hand.

"I'm here!" Yuffie yelled, popping up from behind the bar. "I was looking for something…I dropped some materia on the floor. But I found it!" She explained, her face beaming as she held the piece of materia in her hand. "So, you saved little Marlene?" She asked, walking around to my side of the bar and sitting on the stool next to me.

"Yeah…I did. I guess, it wasn't anything big." I muttered under my breath, not wanting too much attention from it. I looked around, people I had never met before were there.

"Oh, you wanted to meet others right?" Yuffie asked excitedly. "Well, This is Cid! He's the one we were talking about earlier. He's a little older than us." She introduced, walking over to a middle-aged looking man with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. "Cid, I told you! You're not meant to smoke in here. But this is Starla, anyway." My best friend grabbed my hand and dragged me over to Cid, holding out her hand as if she was presenting me.

The smoky, blond man grinned, holding out his hand. "Well, it's nice to meet ya. An' I don't care, Tifa don't mind do ya?" He asked Tifa, looking over to the other side of the bar, forgetting his hand was still out to shake.

"W-well…I do care…But, I know what you're like for shouting and stuff…" Tifa replied, looking around at the floor, washing up some dishes.

Cid grunted, finally taking my hand and shaking it. "So, where're you from?" He asked sound intrigued.

"Um, Gongaga. I moved here not long ago, but I've known Yuffie for a little while." I replied, taking away my hand, smiling down at Cid.

"Oh right. You're from that place that guy was from. You remember Cloud, when his parents were like "Hey, have you seen what's-his-name?" He turned to a dark corner where a figure stood, folding his arms and looking down at the floor. "You gonna come outta that corner, Cloud? Nobody can see yer pretty face." Cid chuckled to himself, taking another drag from his cigarette.

"Yeah." Was the figure's reply. Cloud came out of the shadows, frowning. "His name was Zack anyway."

I turned to Yuffie. "You were right…" I murmured, smirking at her.

"Do you mean, she was right when she called us all up and asked if Cloud was grumpy, and everyone was like "Yeah, he's the grumpiest person ever, makes me feel grumpy just bein' in his presence." Cid turned on his stool, smirking.

My eyes widened, and then darted to Cloud. "Um…" I replied, rubbing the back of my head nervously. "Well…maybe not quite that-"

"It's alright." Cloud interrupted, walking past me and over to the bar. "I'm used to it." He sat on the stool which I sat on just a moment ago, staring at the bar intensely, his face enshrouded in a frown.

"Aw, sorry Cloud. Didn't mean to offend yer or anything…" Cid shouted across the room, almost falling over his stool as he tried to lean back.

Cloud was silent.

"Do you want something to drink?" Tifa asked quietly, smiling at him warmly.

"No, I'm alright." He muttered, still staring at the bar. I looked around at everyone, and each of the shrugged their shoulders.

"Anyway, this is Vince!" Yuffie shouted, running over playfully at Vincent, linking his arm and then getting pushed away instantly. "He's part of the grumpy bunch. Hey, why don't you go sit by Cloud, Vinny!" She shouted, grinning playfully and pushing Vincent.

"Hey Starla." He whispered in a deep voice, trying his best to ignore Yuffie.

"Hey." I lifted up my hand and waved slightly.

"Hey, Starla? Do you wanna pull up a chair at the bar?" Tifa asked, moving her head backwards as if to tell me to go over.

"Oh…okay. Sure." I walked over to the bar and sat on the stool next to Cloud. I looked at him, smiling slightly. He just sat there staring at the bar.

"I thought I'd get you away from those. Sorry about Cid, He's a little…drunk." She whispered to me, leaning in close.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't give him so much to drink then." Cloud muttered, still staring at the bar.

Tifa turned her head to Cloud, frowning slightly. "Well, maybe you should look somewhere other than that damn bar." She placed her finger underneath Cloud's chin, and pulled his head up, looking in his eyes. "Cheer up. You're surrounded by people that love and care about you, be grateful for that at least." Tifa whispered, taking away her hand.

Cloud grunted, his eyebrows returning to neutral, looking slightly happier than a moment ago. "Sorry…" He whispered.

Tifa's face lit up. "Don't worry about it." She walked off into the back.

"Thanks for saving Marlene." Cloud murmured, turning his head slightly, looking at me from the corner of his eye. "We owe you one."

I smiled slightly, turning to look at Cloud fully. "It's alright. I didn't even know it was Marlene till Barret appeared." I replied. "A-are you alright?" I asked quietly, leaning my head down slightly to look Cloud in the face.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Don't worry about me. I just…Never mind. Are you okay?" He asked, now looking at me properly. "I hope our humble group isn't too much for you."

"Oh…I'm great." I smiled at him, attempting to look friendly. "Oh, no. Everyone seems really nice. Not too keen on Cid though…" I leaned in to whisper just in case Cid heard me. "He seems a little…loud. Bossy. There are more words, they're just not coming to my head at the moment."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. He's more like the dad of the group though, so, we have to been nice I guess." Cloud answered, nodding his head slightly. "My friend came from Gongaga you know." He informed me.

"Oh really? What's his name? I might have known him"

"Zack Fair…"

My memory twigged, I knew exactly who Zack Fair was. "Oh…he lived opposite me." I replied, my face turning to a frown. "He…he's dead, isn't he…"

"Yeah. He was in SOLDIER. I was with him for a lot of the time, as an Infantryman." He murmured, his head sinking to look at the bar again.

"Oh. I remember saying goodbye to him when he was off to be in SOLDIER. So, anyway. Where are you from, then?" I asked, trying to change the subject to get his mind off Zack.

"Nibelhiem…" He whispered very quietly, so quiet I could hardly hear. "I'm from Nibelhiem" He repeated, lifting his head up to look at me, a small smile creeping onto his face.

"Oh right, I know where that is. In fact, I've been there a few times." I smiled back at him. Suddenly, the same headache that hit me just after I left my house, hit me again, the pain running up my spine. Things began to go dark, and at that moment, it was pitch black. I started to fall down, but I don't remember hitting the floor.

~~Cloud~~

It was strange. We were talking, then she suddenly, closed her eyes and held her head in her hand. "Whoa, are you alright?" I asked, placing my hand on her arm. There was no reply, and that's when she fell. I jumped up, moving forwards and catching her in my arms before she hit the ground. She was feather light, so I picked her up properly, like a princess.

"Hey! What the hell happened?!" Yuffie bellowed, running over to me and staring Starla in the face.

"Whoa! She's not dead, give her some air!" I yelled back, walking off and up the stairs, walking into the spare room and laying her on the bed. "What happened to you…" I whispered, watching her sleep, hoping she would be okay. Suddenly, I heard the door open, so I quickly turned my head away, and then looked at who was in the room. It was Tifa.

"Hey, is Starla alright?" She asked with concern in her face.

"Um, yeah. I think so. She's breathing. I thought I'd put her in here till she woke up." I replied, rubbing the back of my head nervously. "We should just leave her here. She should come down when she wakes up." I muttered, standing up.

"Yeah, let's leave her." Tifa left the room.

I walked out of the door following Tifa, taking the door handle and closing the door, taking one last look at Starla before leaving.


End file.
